Stream of Consciousness
Best Hill in Town
Don't like the cold? You'd best avoid Minnesota in the winter. Below zero? Child's play! As a kid, there was still fun to be had outside no matter the weather. I ought to know. My family had the best sledding hill in our small town of Park Rapids.
By Julie Lacksonen2 months ago in Humans
When Compassion Replaces Truth
Compassion is a virtue, but compassion without truth becomes corruption. It turns mercy into permissiveness and kindness into cowardice. A healthy society needs both heart and spine. When compassion replaces truth, the heart becomes sentimental and the spine collapses. People begin to value comfort more than correction and feelings more than facts. The result is moral confusion that spreads from personal relationships into every institution.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcast2 months ago in Humans
The Asymmetry of Consequence
A society cannot survive when truth applies to one group but not another. Every civilization that endures is built on shared accountability, equal justice, and balanced consequence. When one group is shielded from correction while another carries the full weight of judgment, corruption takes root. Today, that imbalance has become deeply gendered. Men are punished for failure, while women are protected from it. Men are held to the standard of results, while women are measured by intentions. The scales of consequence are no longer even, and the results are visible everywhere.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcast2 months ago in Humans
No Man's Land
Nothing that exists can truly not exist. When I was younger I struggled with mental illness and addiction. I journeyed to a space between life and death. My ancestors called it No Man’s Land. Nothing exists there. In that pure non-existence, however, there is a seed of something peculiar. When I was younger I broke my mind and went head-first into non-existence. When I went into that non-existence I found something peculiar.
By Devin Konelsen-Loytomaki2 months ago in Humans
A Life Reimagined
As a child, I am driving along with my family on our way to a vacation destination I didn’t know. I had never been here before . . . I was so sure of that. Five brothers and sisters all chatting, fighting or playing car games when suddenly, the road narrows and there is water on both sides of the street. I have been here before. Maybe not during this lifetime, but the familiar feeling of this place lets me know I have indeed been here before. Like visiting a long forgotten place or a memory from another lifetime.
By Barbara Gode Wiles2 months ago in Humans
Journaling And Journeying
Lying on the damp, green grass, staring at the pattern of the stars, a map of wild wonder and the temptress of the heart. Calling us to find adventure and chase the beauty of the night, creating paths and journeys that document, our walk of life.
By Kelli Sheckler-Amsden2 months ago in Humans
Vibe Culture: How Content Has Shifted from Trends to Moods
Introduction — From Viral to Vibes Once upon a time, the internet was obsessed with what’s trending. Remember when every few days brought a new dance challenge, hashtag, or meme that everyone just had to join? You’d open Instagram or TikTok, and your entire feed would be filled with the same thing — different people doing the same moves, repeating the same jokes, remixing the same sounds.
By abualyaanart2 months ago in Humans
Control Without Accountability
Control is not leadership, and leadership is not control. In a healthy relationship, influence is earned through respect, not demanded through manipulation. Yet modern relationships often suffer from a quiet imbalance: one person wants to make the decisions but refuses to bear the responsibility for the outcomes. That imbalance destroys trust faster than any act of betrayal, because it replaces partnership with hierarchy and love with resentment.
By Peter Thwing - Host of the FST Podcast2 months ago in Humans
